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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25936378">The helpful postdoc</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/heme/pseuds/heme'>heme</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Chemistry student Deidara [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack, M/M, the sasodei's in the background</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:27:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25936378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/heme/pseuds/heme</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was Deidara's first day as an undergraduate researcher.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Deidara/Sasori (Naruto)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Chemistry student Deidara [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The helpful postdoc</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the drowsy, sadistic me wanted some Deidara torture.</p><p>I hope the massive amount of chemistry lingo in this story didn't negatively impact the readability of the text. If it did, I'm sorry.</p><p>Enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Deidara’s first day working under Nawaki’s tutelage.</p><p>Inside his backpack were pencils and a notebook for collecting data without risking damage to electronics, along with his laptop and tablet stored safely in a hidden compartment.</p><p>The shift starts at 9 AM, and to make a good impression towards the postdoc, he decided to arrive early at half past eight.</p><p>There was nobody at the Hyuuga group yet. Perhaps at the moment, Hizashi finally finished his morning coffee with Neji and the latest updates in fluorescent probing at his side.</p><p>Swipe at the card reader, and you were free to enter. As the research group centres around chemical biology, the biology and the chemistry labs were separate rooms on the same floor.</p><p>On the right were the only rooms useful to Deidara, since his skills in biology were rather unremarkable.</p><p>Maybe he could familiarise himself with the layout of the floor until Nawaki arrives.</p><p>Refrigerators lined up in the corridors, with temperatures spanning from negative 78 to 5 degrees Celsius. The coldest were most likely for storing biological materials or freeze – dried organic intermediates, perhaps some relatively unstable reagents here and there.</p><p>He walked past the biology lab, taking a sneak peak inside at stuff he does not understand how to operate. Chances at getting his eyes on something he understood the mechanism of, would be greater in the neighbouring room of analytical equipments.</p><p>Looking down, a sign saying “please do not touch the doorknob with gloved hands” was stuck on the door.</p><p>Except the presence of elaborate machinery at the centre of the room, there were bottles of reagents sorted and labelled on tall shelves. Underneath were plastic jars with pumps, each of a total of Deidara’s knee height. In black markers indicated they were containers of common solvents.</p><p>Taking the route back, the blond gave himself a full eye of a HPLC, coupled with a UV – VIS spectrometer and a mass spectrometer. It was not the only chromatogram over here, a gas chromatogram was on a separate bench.</p><p>And Deidara wondered, one chromatogram was too little for a full group of students. There should be more – yes, across the midsection were rooms with screens and similar looking instruments.</p><p>From the looks of it, the cost of the entire set of equipment could give Kakuzu a heart attack, and grants which could support monetarily the entire group were far and few in number. Jashin knows how much saliva has Hizashi spluttered during his course of convincing third – parties to fund his research under said grants.</p><p>Then into the organic synthesis laboratory. Immediately greeting Deidara were rows of ventilating chambers, liquids spinning around in stoppered round bottom flasks by magnetic stirrers inside.</p><p>The sculptor’s tour of the setup was nearing an end, and footsteps louder in succession was heard.</p><p>“Hi, Deidara!”</p><p>“Morning, un.”</p><p>Nawaki let out an apologetic smile, “I’ve ordered the reagents on the list you’ve sent me earlier, but they haven’t arrived yet. You can help me around today.” He walked towards his personal office desk in a region separated by glass panels, and came back with a sheet of paper, written over were experimental details.</p><p>Deidara took a careful look at the pathway, it seems oddly weird and definitely recognisable, “Appel reaction using iodine?”</p><p>“Yep. It’s a very interesting reaction because of how mild the conditions are. By the way, the dry solvents are under the cabinet over there. And compound C is in the fridge next to it.”</p><p>That bottle of solvent with molecular sieves was fucking heavy. Deidara did not often exercise, and he had a skinny frame. Perhaps, during his time working as an undergraduate researcher, moving bottled solvents ranging from 500 millilitres to 20 kilograms could serve as a decent workout.</p><p>Time for the syringe and puncture through the cover.</p><p>The plan sounded perfect in a thought experiment. In practice, the instant the needle was in contact with the liquid surface, the solvent shot through the syringe on its own at an alarming rate.</p><p>Deidara let out a scrambled ‘shit’ and pulled the syringe out.</p><p>Standing next to him was a Nawaki trying to hold back his laughter. He sealed the separation funnel before correcting the blond, “Forgot to tell you, the container is pressurised. In the drawers underneath the bench are balloons. Take one, and fix it to a spare hypodermic needle head. Puncture using the needle connected to the balloon first, and draw out the solvent.”</p><p>While the postdoc was shaking the separation mixture, funnel producing hissing noises here and there, along went Deidara’s second attempt at drawing the solvent out.</p><p>“Deidara, you should weigh the triphenylphosphine and imidazole out before handling the solvent.”</p><p>At the suggestion, the blond sweated at his incompetence when handling genuine research scenarios. Bending down, he punched some figures into a calculator to figure out the weight equivalences, and recorded the numbers as such in his notebook as a note of common practice.</p><p>A round bottom flask and two reagent bottles were carried to the electronic balance. The spatula, shiny and free of any rust, seemed clean enough, but it would not hurt if it was cleaned once again with a sheet of tissue paper.</p><p>Wanting to get the dull labour finished as soon as possible, Deidara spooned out quite the large pile of white powder. He was rather certain, with his skills in sculpting, no speck of imidazole would fell off to the countertop. The reagent slid slow and smooth from the spatula into the round bottom flask by a gentle slope, however, the sanded glass at the opening provided a fair amount of friction. Hence it slowed the rate of entry, creating an unwanted piling.</p><p>Which then so conveniently spew over the edge.</p><p>Well shit.</p><p>At least it was only a few tiny white clumps littering around. Nothing serious.</p><p>So, record the current weight first, and then figure out how to hide the slip in both his dignity and reagent.</p><p>But somehow Nawaki always has a way to sniff out issues.</p><p>“Spilled powders, Deidara?”</p><p>Said sculptor, overconfident in his skills, smirked nervously, “Yeah, un.”</p><p>“There is some scrap paper over there, rip out a corner and fold it into a funnel. Stick the pointy end into the flask opening and do what you’ve been doing.”</p><p>The chemistry student spluttered his thoughts out, “Why haven’t I thought of it, un?”</p><p>Nawaki only smiled, and went back to his work.</p><p>Praise Jashin that Sasori – no – Danna was not here, or else he would not live this day down for the rest of his life.</p><p>Just then things started to take a turn for the better, the laboratory door was pushed open by someone he did not recognise by footsteps.</p><p>That someone just happened to be Hizashi Hyuuga who was around to check on his pathetic underlings’ work progress.</p><p>“I suppose the acylation of glycoproteins will be done by the end of this week, Nawaki?”</p><p>“It will be ready before the group meeting on next Monday.”</p><p>At the other end of the room, Deidara, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, got his share of second – hand nervousness. He gulped when he heard Hizashi approaching him, possibly also to ensure everything was going according to schedule.</p><p>“Deidara.”</p><p>“Good morning, Mr Hyuuga, un.” A simple ‘morning’ would not do the job.</p><p>“Everything is going fine?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>The PI nodded, “In order for you to get a better idea of research in chemistry, you should come to the group meeting on next Monday. It starts at half past five, at the meeting room on the ground floor of block C.”</p><p>If the chemistry student was not the one to be publicly executed, he could potentially gain some pleasure from watching someone else being lynched. In addition, ‘should’ was the word Hizashi used, which leaves no room for negotiation. And he agreed with a painful grin, though the expression was hidden away under a face mask, “Sure, thank you Mr Hyuuga, un. I’ll follow Nawaki there.”</p><p>Deidara went back with the round bottom flask to the ventilating chambers, where a Schlenk line was previously assembled by one of the PhD students. The vacuum pump was started for some pre - emptive warm up while he filled the trap with liquid nitrogen. Wrapped around the trap was a towel to insulate.</p><p>Next to the ventilating chamber was a nitrogen cylinder to feed the lines. A main regulation valve was securely fastened on top, and a secondary valve controls the rate of inlet of nitrogen. Slightly opening the bubbler stopcock, the line was purged gently for a few minutes before it was closed, and the nitrogen valve was fully open.</p><p>The flask has a inlet equipped with a stopcock at the side, which was rather convenient for conducting reactions under an inert atmosphere. Deidara, failing to find a rubber septum, made his inquiry to the material’s whereabouts.</p><p>“Nawaki, un?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Where do you guys keep the rubber septa?”</p><p>“In the drawers beneath the electronic balance.”</p><p>It comes with all sizes and colours. To determine one with the appropriate size was not a hard task, however, to pull the stiff rubber over the flask opening was indeed a hard task.</p><p>“Finally, un.” Deidara huffed, as he clenched his fists in exasperation. Who has ever thought that bringing his weekly practicals into a research environment was so intensely daunting?</p><p>And unbeknownst to him, the simple action managed to torn one of his tight - fitting nitrile gloves. In his impatience to get the reaction up and running, he has put on a pair from the box labeled as size 'small' instead of 'large'.</p><p>He raised his left hand, suspicious of what has happened. Underneath two pieces of blue was exposed flesh.</p><p>The blond glared at the mechanical failure, putting the flask onto a stand, “What the fuck?” Via a brisk walk, he brought himself to the sink, while peeling the covering off.</p><p>Sweat must be washed clean, excess water droplets dried, before someone could manage to fit on a pair of nitrile gloves. Despite sweaty hands were not one to survive under waterproof nitrile, adequate protection must be worn at all times in a potentially harmful environment.</p><p>Going back to the Schlenk line where the sculptor was working at, he fitted a rubber tubing onto the flask, ensuring the connection was airtight. For a vacuum to be created, the stopper must be twisted open, while preventing the powdery substances inside from being sucked away.</p><p>Which equals to more waiting, since the flow rate should be gentle.</p><p>Perhaps, during this period, he could ask Nawaki what has the postdoc got in hand for him.</p><p>The chemistry student peered across the midsection of the lab, and made his shocking discovery that Nawaki has a giant silica plate in his hands.</p><p>“I’ve got a question, Nawaki, un.”</p><p>“Do tell, Deidara.” Nawaki scored the plate in half with a pencil.</p><p>“What’s that giant plate for?”</p><p>The Senju chuckled, “For conducting a practice which some snobby advisors look down upon, even though it gets the job done quite well. By that, I meant prep TLC. It’s for getting the samples I need for my NMR.”</p><p>Deidara gaped at the crudeness and simple effectiveness of the method, “Which is like TLC, but only that you scrape off the bands you need, un?”</p><p>“Yep! It’s easier to scrape things off with a spatula when the plate’s wet. Besides, dry silica tends to fly around in a ventilating chamber, and it’s bad for your lungs.” He pointed to his face mask with a finger, “Which is what this is for.”</p><p>After observing Nawaki depositing a line of sample across a pencil line using a pipette, fanning the DCM away by oscillating the plate up and down, Deidara exposed his other inquiry.</p><p>“Nawaki?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I don’t see a lot of people in the labs, un. Why’s that so?”</p><p>The postdoc putted down a bottle of solvent, which was used in the preparation of his eluent, “Even though the graduate students are registered as full – time, around two – thirds of them treat it like a part – time course. Boss is probably going to kill them next time in the group meeting.” He noted the time difference from the initiation of the conversation until now, “By the way, Deidara, you should go check on your vessel.”</p><p>“Oh right, un.” And scampered back to turn the flask valve off, then seal the double oblique tap. After determining the status of the system, Deidara disconnected the tubing from the side arm. With a balloon filled with nitrogen from the pointy opening of the nitrogen container, the rubber tube which serves as the mouth of the balloon was jammed onto the flask.</p><p>A hissing noise, coupled with the decrease in volume of the balloon, followed suit when the stopcock was opened. The reagents were now under a nitrogen atmosphere, but it would be more preferable if the procedure was repeated twice more.</p><p>And once again, he went to chat with Nawaki in the meantime, before dragging himself to the reagent refrigerator and the electronic balance to weigh out the required amount of iodine.</p><p>“Nawaki?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“How good are you at computational chemistry, un?”</p><p>The Senju had an apologetic smile, “Just average for an organic chemist. You could go talk to Asuma – he’s another postdoc here. If I’m not mistaken, his PhD thesis was about something related to computational chemistry.”</p><p>“Is Asuma here?” The knowledge got Deidara’s hopes up at finding help.</p><p>“Nope!” Nawaki cheerfully grinned, “He wakes up rather late.”</p><p>Deidara spluttered. Does graduate students and postdocs truly live such a slow, casual life?</p><p>It was highly likely they do, but at the expense of being berated by their boss afterwards.</p><p>And then rebound back to their lazy schedule a week later, when they were rather sure Hizashi has been keeping his guards down.</p><p>The sculptor thought, as he dug out iodine beads using a spatula at a similar relaxed pace.</p><p>“Careful, Deidara.” Nawaki made his comment on Deidara’s practice.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“Iodine sublimates. So you should make your weighing a bit quicker.”</p><p>“Oof, right, un.” Deidara mentally slapped himself because of the fact he forgot.</p><p>Adequate amounts of dichloromethane were injected into the two separate round bottom flasks using a syringe. The magnetic stirrer underneath the triphenylphosphine – imidazole mixture was turned on, yet not so much unwanted turbulence was created. First went the brilliant purple iodine solution, and second was compound C.</p><p>According to the printed instructions, an ice bath a few minutes ago, has already been nicely wrapped around the reaction vessel.</p><p>Just as Deidara thought his work was now finished for the couple hours, Nawaki has a way to screw his life up.</p><p>“You forgot something, Deidara.”</p><p>“What? I double checked, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t, un.”</p><p>“Start TLC – ing the mixture right now.”</p><p>The chemistry student knew better than to argue back. He could ask for the reasons later.</p><p>“What’s the eluent mixture, un?”</p><p>“Ten to one DCM and EA. If you think the polarity’s not enough, add some methanol. First check the spots under UV, and if you can’t see anything except the iodine spot, dip it in some vanillin then heat gently using the heat gun. I’ve got a sample of the product up there on the counter, in the centrifuge vial labelled as D.”</p><p>Two minutes later, the TLC plate was sitting in the puddle of equilibrated mobile phase. “Fuck, un.” The blond opened the bottle of vanillin, and swore under his breath. After getting his nose on the visualiser, “Smells like baked cookies, un. I’m actually getting hungry at it.”</p><p>“Yep. The only drawback about it is the solution goes bad quickly.”</p><p>“I’ve got a question, Nawaki.”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Why should I TLC the reaction right from the beginning?”</p><p>“Because…” A suspense was created by the postdoc, “I want to know when can I leave for lunch.”</p><p>“Hah?” It was such a confusing day for Deidara.</p><p>“It’s now ten, and half an hour later, you’ll need to TLC the reaction once again. The reaction follows first order kinetics, so you could estimate the half life of the reaction. For an ideal first order reaction, it takes eight half lives to get to 99%.”</p><p>“Ah, I see, un.”</p><p>“Besides, Deidara, you don’t have to follow the instructions word by word. Like for example, to make the reaction go a bit faster, perform it at room temperature instead of in an ice bath. For every ten degrees you raise, it goes roughly twice as fast.”</p><p>Deidara nodded at the thought of the parallel between Arrhenius kinetics and the Boltzmann distribution, both of which are probability distributions assuming independence between two molecules, “Won’t also the side reactions go faster then, un?”</p><p>“Of course! It’s up to you to decide whether should you raise the temperature higher.”</p><p>“Hmm.” The chemistry student flipped through his mind the reaction mechanism, and performed several thought analyses about the possibility of side reactions. It seemed quite few for this particular scenario, thus he turned off the magnetic stirrer, before lifting the ice bath off the plate.</p><p>“Deidara?”</p><p>“Yeah, un?”</p><p>“I’m going downstairs to the NMR room. Would you like to come?”</p><p>“Sure.” He took a final glance at the ongoing reaction, making sure nothing was wrong, then took the TLC plate out to dry.</p><p>The two exited the laboratory, when Nawaki made a prompt remark about NMRs.</p><p>“There is a reason behind why do I dislike high boiling solvents.”</p><p>“And what’s that, un?”</p><p>“Even if you put your sample on the vacuum line for very long, you still get solvent peaks here and there.”</p><p>“Now that’s painful.” Deidara groaned at his unfortunate love for tetrahydrofuran. This would create a lot of problems in the future.</p><p>During their trip to the NMR room, they met several fellow researchers which Nawaki waved hello to.</p><p>Office cubicles were arranged in the room on one side, where people could process data on the fitted desktop computers. In the other end were several NMR spectrometers; the one Nawaki had chosen for his sample was indicated as 700 MHz.</p><p>After the original data was saved, the postdoc collected his sample tube from the spectrometer.</p><p>Deidara took a good long look at the opened file, which appeared as some cluttered, jumbled nonsense resembling nothing of the spectrums he had been used to.</p><p>“It looks nothing like an NMR spectrum, un.”</p><p>“After we Fourier transform it, it will look better. And Deidara, have people ever told you the reason behind why are NMRs displayed in chemical shifts and not Hertz?”</p><p>“No, un.”</p><p>“Because no two NMR spectrometers are made equal.”</p>
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